Socioeconomic school segregation in a market-oriented educational system. The case of Chile

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the socioeconomic status (SES) school segregation in Chile, whose educational system is regarded as an extreme case of a market-oriented education. The study estimated the magnitude and evolution of the SES segregation of schools at both national and local levels, and it studied the relationship between some local educational market dynamics and the observed magnitude of SES school segregation at municipal level. The main findings were: first, the magnitude of the SES segregation of both low-SES and high-SES students in Chile was very high (Duncan Index ranged from 0.50 to 0.60 in 2008); second, during the last decade, SES school segregation tended to slightly increase in Chile, especially in high schools (both public and private schools); third, private schools – including voucher schools – were more segregated than public schools for both low-SES and high-SES students; and finally, some market dynamics operating in the Chilean education (like privatization, school choice, and fee-paying) accounted for a relevant proportion of the observed variation in SES school segregation at municipal level. These findings are analyzed from an educational policy perspective in which the link between SES school segregation and market-oriented mechanisms in education plays a fundamental role.     

The impact of high-stakes testing on curriculum and pedagogy: a teacher perspective from Australia

Debates continue about how high-stakes testing regimes influence schools at all levels: their impact on teaching practices, distribution of resources and curriculum provision, and whether they achieve the intended increases in student achievement in targeted areas. In 2008, the Australian government introduced a national testing scheme, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), in which all Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are required to participate, and a national website, MySchool, was established in 2010 to publish the results of all schools. This paper reports on the first national study of educators’ views on the impact of NAPLAN on Australian schools and students. Over 8000 educators from all states and territories participated in the study, and the findings indicate that the testing regime is leading to a reduction in time spent on other curriculum areas and adjustment of pedagogical practice and curriculum content to mirror the tests. The findings suggest that the modification of teaching and curricular practices is in response to concerns regarding the use and reporting of NAPLAN data and the potential impact on schools. This confirms findings of researchers in other countries on the capacity of high-stakes regimes to distort teaching practices, constrain the curriculum and narrow students’ educational experiences.     

Teaching within and against the circle of privilege: reforming teachers,reforming schools

Three decades of neo-liberal education in western countries, particularly English-speaking countries, have not served most children well. The evidence is mounting that the neo-liberal experiment has been a failure on many grounds, not least because of its deprofessionalizing effect on teachers. The disciplinary effects of neo-liberal policy frameworks on education remain powerful, but there are numerous teachers and schools who have resisted the regime of managerialism and accountability. This paper celebrates such activists. It argues that the internal focus on the delivery of instruction and test-taking inside schools ignores the point that the major influences on the school performance of children exist outside rather than inside the school. The paper argues that young people who have been ‘othered’ and put at a disadvantage by the neo-liberal education system deserve to be treated in a more dignified, engaged and respectful manner than seems to be the case within the ideology of accountability and top-down managerialism.     

Neo-tribal capitalism,socio-economic disadvantage and educational policy in New Zealand

This paper draws on the idea of neo-tribal capitalism to argue that in New Zealand educational disadvantage is typically understood through the lens of ethnicity and that policy-makers appear blind to disadvantage that is related to socio-economic status. A clear expression of this gap is the fact that while New Zealand has strategies to lift the achievement of Māori and Pasifika school students (many of whom come from relatively poor backgrounds), there is no strategy to lift the achievement of European/Pākehā students from similar backgrounds. Drawing official statistics, this paper argues that a significant proportion of those who do not succeed in New Zealand’s education are Europeans/Pākehās from poor socio-economic backgrounds.     

Educational policy for citizenship in the early years in Australia

Understandings of young children as active and capable citizens, while evident in discourses of early childhood education and research, are not widely reflected in the policy for the early years of schooling in Australia. This paper makes an analysis of the gaps and tensions between discourses of young children as active citizens and policy for citizenship education at the national level in Australia and at the Queensland State level. There is a widespread discourse within early childhood that regards young children as citizens and democratic participants in their own lives, as a reflection of the oft-cited Article 12 in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, educational policy and curriculum for citizenship in Australia, by and large, adheres to age and stage understandings of children that deem young children unable to conceptualise and/or articulate ideas of what it means to ‘be a good citizen’. We ask which discourses are being harnessed in educational policy for citizenship in Australia, what discourses are silenced or ignored and what this tells us about how young children are thought about in Australian politics and education.     

A critical analysis of the Syrian refugee education policies in Lebanon using a policy analysis framework

ABSTRACT

Lebanon, a country impacted by ongoing political and economic instability, has an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees competing for access to already fragile healthcare, education and labor sectors. Half of these refugees are children. This piece will discuss the efforts and policies Lebanon already has in place regarding the education of Syrian refugees. This will be done through the implementation of Lesley Vidovich’s (2007) a policy framework which proposes an analysis of the policy context and policies’ influence, an analysis of the policies as text as well as an analysis of the implementation of those policies. Such a framework has the opportunity to not only provide a holistic view of the Lebanese history and context leading to current policies surrounding the education of refugees, but it has the potential of serving as a systematic framework for other various contexts concerning education in conflict areas.     

Beyond the poverty of national security: toward a critical human security perspective in educational policy

This article examines the intersecting logics of human capital and national security underpinning the corporate school reform movement in the United States. Taking a 2012 policy report by the Council on Foreign Relations as an entry point, it suggests that these logics are incoherent not only on their own narrow instrumental terms, but also more importantly in terms of progressive ideals of human and educational flourishing. The article proceeds to draw on discussions within the fields of international relations and critical security studies in order to think through what it might mean to reframe educational policy within the terms of human security rather than human capital and national security. It further explores both the possibilities and distinct limitations of extant human security discourses and policies in relation to global neoliberal governance and biopolitics. The article concludes by advocating for a critical human security framework in educational policy along three conceptual lines: (1) A Human beyond Human Capital; (2) Symbiotic Parallelism; and (3) Altersecurity. Ultimately, it suggests that human security for educational flourishing might offer insight into transcending the idea of security altogether.     

Education policy and the challenge of living philosophy

Talk of the rise of a global war for talent and emergence of a new global meritocracy has spread from the literature on human resource management to shape nation‐state discourse on managed migration and immigration reform. This article examines the implications that the global war for talent have for education policy. Given that this talent war is a product of neoliberalism, it raises many of the same concerns for educators as neoliberalism in general: the embrace and promotion of social, economic and educational inequality; and a narrow, market‐based conception of education, skill and talent. This article argues, however, that the global war for talent represents a new phase in neoliberalism, as it seeks to liberalise the global movement not just of capital and commodities, but of high skill labour as well. In this, it threatens to undercut some of the founding assumptions and goals that have shaped national education policy in OECD countries throughout the post‐World War II period, and raises serious concerns for how we are to think about and pursue equality, inclusion and fairness in and through education in the future.     

Excluding students with disabilities from the culture of achievement: the case of the TIMSS,PIRLS, and PISA

International tests of achievement narrowly measure specific academic subjects, but have larger educational policy implications. These tests come to summarize national education systems and are used in national and international discourse. However, students with disabilities are being entirely excluded from participation in the discourse of achievement. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, and Programme for International Student Assessment all actively exclude students with disabilities from being measured when the testing agencies set up ‘desired target populations’ and report out on testing participation. This exclusionary discourse establishes that students with disabilities do not belong in a culture of achievement and educational evaluation, which has an impact on policies concerning educational equity and maintains the oppression of low expectations. US policy requires that 95% of all students take achievement tests and be given reasonable accommodations. This paper concludes that international achievement tests should follow the same standard.     

Social inequalities in the French education system: the joint effect of individual and contextual factors

This paper presents a synthetic picture of social inequalities in pupils' scholastic careers in France. Individual factors such as socio-economic background remain important for both academic results from the beginning of schooling on and option and streaming choices at the secondary level. Moreover, families have unequal resources to manage their children's schooling careers in a system which is becoming more complex and decentralized. This means that contextual factors are also very important. Decentralization has in fact increased the importance of choice of schooling context: the class or the school attended does make a difference and this has the effect of widening social gaps in academic results and socialization. The present trend towards more autonomous schools fosters inequalities resulting from contextual factors but inequalities are also produced by the downgrading of degrees resulting from the fact that employers are requiring ever-higher degrees in a period of job shortage.     

马克思主义的价值理想与社会主义

从人的本性、需要及其与价值理想的内在关系看,社会价值理想是人类的必然追求。社会主义是马克思主义的社会价值理想,它的本质必然包括:在保证和促进生产力高度发展的基础上,最大限度地实现社会正义与公平,最大限度地促进人的全面发展和社会的全面进步。社会主义是人类社会的发展方向,是人类对未来社会的美好向往,它将永远存在于人们的希望和对社会主义的追求之中。     

Interest groups and the State in contemporary Spanish education policy

This paper analyses the role of educational interest groups in the context of current educational policy in Spain. The paper focuses on the historical and structural factors that are the basis for understanding the constitution of educational interests. It argues that the historical educational dualism and the political opposition between public and private education explains not only the emergence and political position of each educational actor, but also the dynamics of interaction between them and their strategies to influence policy making and implementation. The final section of the paper analyses the relationship between interest groups and the State. It argues that the diverse and heterogeneous educational demands lead to a specific form of educational politics and explain the conditioned relative autonomy of the Spanish State in education policy making.     

教育公平与社会公平相互促进的关系状态和基本意义

公平是共同发展、共同富裕和共同幸福,最终标准和方式是平等与效率相互促进的关系状态,是不同公平标准和方式的和谐统一。公平的不同目标追求、理论基础、评价标准和实践方式形成不同结果。道德公平的目标、理论、标准和方式是人格平等,趋向是理想多于现实。经济公平的目标、理论、标准和方式是能力平等,结果是现实多于理想。政治公平的目标、理论、标准和方式,在不同时期有不同特点,但其永恒主题不仅是平衡稳定与发展、平等与效率的关系,形成它们相互促进、持续不断提高水平的公平的关系状态,而且总是在道德理想与经济现实的矛盾中博弈和寻找平衡。教育公平与社会公平互为基础、相互制约、相互促进,教育公平对促进社会公平有重要意义,社会公平对促进教育公平有重要意义。追求崇高的道德理想是扶贫帮困、慈善仁爱的理论基础,追求互利和双赢是在能力和劳动面前人人平等的理论基础。整个社会道德追求的主流对教育公平具有决定性作用。分数面前人人平等的公平具有两面性,并未涉及导致分数差距的经济和社会根源。在政治、道德平等和经济不平等情况下,以不平等的方式促进落后地区经济和教育的发展才是公平的。追求公平既有对能力、经济等有优势的人的权利、利益缺位的关注,也有对能力、经济等处境不利人群的权利、利益缺位的关注,但通常情况其核心是对后者的关注。实现教育公平必须协调道德、经济和政治公平的标准和方式。以人格平等的道德标准和方式,实现教育平等。以能力平等的经济标准和方式,提高教育效率。以平衡道德公平与经济公平关系的政治标准和提供机会、过程公平的方式,形成教育平等与教育效率相互促进的关系状态。通过整合道德、经济和政治的公平标准和方式,形成持续不断提高平等与效率相互促进水平的高水平的教育公平。公平与正义、公正从社会发展中协调各种利益关系的最高目标看,具有完全相同的本质,追求和实现教育公平就是追求和实现教育正义、公正。     

After Care: the education and occupation of adults who have been in care

abstract

Data from the 1981 and 1991 sweeps of the National Child Development Study are used to explore the educational qualifications and the subsequent occupations of people who had experienced care as children. The results confirm previous investigations which show that people who have been in care have much lower educational qualifications than their peers who have never been in care; they also show that they have higher risks of unemployment and, if they obtain jobs, are more likely to be in lower‐level jobs. These results do not, however, apply equally to all people who have ever been in care. People who experienced short periods of care before the age of one perform close to the national average, while one of the most disadvantaged groups are people who came into care before eleven years of age and did not leave care until after eleven. This group typically remained in care for around nine years, and they not only had low educational attainments but also had even lower occupational attainments than would have been expected given their lack of qualifications.     

The emerging fourth tier in K-12 education finance in British Columbia,Canada: increasing privatisation and implications for social justice

This paper examines increasing privatisation of education in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Conceptually, the paper is informed by theories of privatisation and social justice; and methodologically, it uses policy analysis to examine documents and financial records obtained from government departments. The paper critically analyses education policy that has enabled the emergence of private sources of revenue (tuition fees and for-profit revenue) and the establishment of school and programme choice. Analysis of levels of international student tuition generated by school districts in the province reveals differential capacity to produce such revenue. The authors argue that this differential capacity is leading to the development of a fourth tier within a pre-existing three-tier K-12 education system in British Columbia. The article concludes with a discussion of implications related to social justice in education.     

The perceptions of stakeholders of the implementation of a state funding model in South African public schools

The government has made great strides in redressing past imbalances in education through the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF) policy that focuses on equity in school funding. This NNSSF model compels the state to fund public schools according to a poverty quintile system, where poor schools are allocated much more funding for resources than affluent schools. Using qualitative research, school management teams, school governing bodies and principals of six public schools located within the Gauteng West District were interviewed to determine their views of how the NNSSF policy had been implemented. One of the findings revealed that equity in public schools has not been fully achieved since funding provided by the state is insufficient to address the backlog in educational resources. It is recommended that the state abandons the policy of funding schools according to quintile rankings but instead, fund schools based on resource needs.     

Academic freedom,university governance and the state: the Commission of Inquiry into the Hong Kong Institute of Education

In 2007, a Judicial Commission of Inquiry was established by the Government of Hong Kong to investigate allegations that senior officials had interfered with the academic freedom and institutional autonomy of the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). It concluded that a former minister had requested the President of that institution to curb the criticisms of Government policies by two of his colleagues. The report had significant ramifications including the resignation of the former minister. This article initially describes the background to the Inquiry and subsequently analyses why the situation escalated and resulted in the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry. The explanation focuses on the inherent weaknesses of the system of Governance, the political ecology of Hong Kong and recent changes to the political system.     

The Future of the Liberal Arts

For the past year, we have been co-facilitating Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) workshops across Pittsburgh, tailored specifically toward local educators and educational activists. The overarching intentions of these workshops were twofold: (a) to cultivate educators’ understanding of and response to how power and privilege operate in educational systems; and (b) to provide useful tools for educators to continue these conversations and dismantle systems of oppression in their places of practice. As a collective of facilitators and in our workshops, we attempt to create, even if briefly, a beloved community where participants are invited to bring their full, human selves and engage in nuanced reflection in the hopes of creating a more compassionate, just, and equitable society. Like our workshops, the purpose of this article is both practical and theoretical: (a) to provide tangible tools to those readers interested in facilitating TO workshops for educators; and (b) to contribute to our understanding of how TO can serve to cultivate educators’ analysis of oppression.